The present invention relates in general to electronic mail (xe2x80x9ce-mailxe2x80x9d) address portability and, in particular, to portability of e-mail addresses between different Internet service providers.
To access the Internet, a user must typically subscribe to an Internet Service Provider (xe2x80x9cISPxe2x80x9d), which provides basic operations for Internet access. Each ISP has a unique Internet protocol (xe2x80x9cIPxe2x80x9d) address associated with it to allow e-mail to be sent to the service provider and then placed in the personal directory of the subscriber or user.
With the proliferation of ISPs, service costs decrease and can tempt users to change their present ISPs. But by leaving their present ISP, the user also leaves behind their e-mail address. Furthermore, after changing to the new ISP the subscriber must reprint their business stationary to the new e-mail address and send announcements to each customer and acquaintance regarding the change. Thus, with each ISP change, the user risks losing contact with people, customers and services.
E-mail forwarding services have been implemented to allow an Internet user to keep the same e-mail address while changing ISPs. A forwarding service is simply another xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d or secondary ISP in the Internet having an IP address to receive e-mail. The forwarding service retains a forwarding IP address, which is the present or primary ISP of the user. The forwarding service then receives the e-mail, replaces the IP address on the e-mail with the forwarding address of the user, and forwards the e-mail.
Other forms of xe2x80x9cportablexe2x80x9d e-mail address have been implemented with an Internet web-based e-mail service. This is simply a web site that is accessible by a user through an Internet browser. To retrieve their mail, users access the Internet and then go to that web site or IP address and look in their mail directory.
But present e-mail systems can limit the data throughput, speed, and reliability enjoyed by Internet users. Communications transmission rates are diminished by adding yet another link in an already lengthy e-mail chain, causing reduced e-mail transfer rates. Furthermore, funneling e-mail to a single third-party server or site before the destination IP address can reduce communication throughput, resulting in e-mail delays.
Transmission reliability is also at risk. The Internet was designed to provide a multiple-redundancy infrastructure where if one node or server fails, a user can still receive their e-mail messages. Because an e-mail forwarding server becomes a conduit for e-mail of a user, when the forwarding server fails, the user e-mail comes to a halt instead of being re-routed through another Internet path.
Another drawback of third-party mail servers or web sites is message security. The intermediate IP destination address potentially exposes the substance of e-mail messages to unrestricted access or interception by third parties.
Departing from Internet-based forwarding services, a system has existed for telephony applications in the form of telephony service control points. These telephony systems allow a user to change long-distance service providers while keeping the same toll-free number, that is, translating xe2x80x9c1-800xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c1-888xe2x80x9d numbers to a new POTS (xe2x80x9cPlain Old Telephone Systemxe2x80x9d) number or a trunk group.
But the intricate telephony signaling protocols, such as Signaling System 7 (xe2x80x9cSS7xe2x80x9d), and the telephony infrastructures are not compatible with Internet signaling and messaging protocolsxe2x80x94primarily TCP (xe2x80x9cTransmission Control Protocolxe2x80x9d) and IP (xe2x80x9cInternet Protocolxe2x80x9d)xe2x80x94and the open infrastructure of the Internet. That is, the Internet is a collection of an estimated 10 million computers, networks and gateways interlinked by the Internet Protocol (xe2x80x9cIPxe2x80x9d).
Thus, there exists a need for portable e-mail addresses that can be retained by an Internet user, even when they change their ISP. There also exists a need for a portable e-mail address that maintains customary communications data rates, and limits unnecessary e-mail access to third parties.
These and other disadvantages are overcome by the present invention, which provides a method and apparatus for e-mail address portability.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an Internet service control point implemented by a computer is provided. The Internet service control point has an e-mail address database and a transaction processing object. The e-mail address database has at least a well-known address field for storing a well-known address value, and a literal-address field for storing a literal-address value that corresponds to the well-known address value. Generally, the well-known address value is selected by the Internet user. This address is portable to the Internet user when an ISP is changed. The literal-address value is a server address designated by the ISP that changes when the ISP is changed. Also provided is a transaction processing object that, when called with an address translation request, accesses the e-mail address database. The address translation request has a well-known address value which is translated to the corresponding literal address value. After the translation, the transaction processing object returns the corresponding literal address value.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for portable e-mail service is provided. The method translates a well-known address to a literal address. The translation takes place through a transaction processing object. The transaction processing object accesses a database containing address information, and translates the well-known address value to the corresponding literal address value, returning the corresponding literal address value.